aroused Aphrodite’s amorous desire: the central theme of HH to Aphrodite, cf. Il. 2. 819 ff.
found a city . . . where the cow lay down: this story, which is not in Homer, is clearly modelled on the Theban foundation myth, p. 100. Homer never expressly states that Ilos was the founder of Ilion, although he refers several times to his tomb on the plain (e.g. Il. 11. 166). In Il. 20. 231 ff., he is the son of Tros, but in the passing references in 11 (166 and 372), the son of Dardanos, which is probably the older tradition. Homer notes a movement from the mountains (for the kingdom of Dardanos lay on the slopes of Mount Ida, Il. 20. 215–18) to a more civilized and prosperous life on the rich farmland of the plains (ibid. 219 ff).
the Palladion: a talismanic image which protected the city, see p. 156.
Triton: a sea-god (p. 33, Theog. 931 f.), here as the god of the River Triton in Libya (see Hdt. 4. 179 ff.; P. 9. 33. 5 claims that Athene was reared by a small river of that name in Boeotia). The myth explains Athene’s title Tritogeneia (which is very ancient, and probably of quite different origin).
aegis: the ‘goatskin’, an attribute of Zeus depicted as a short cloak or a shield; see Il. 5. 733 ff.
Electro . . . raped: the daughter of Atlas, by Zeus (see p. 122, but it is not recorded there, or anywhere else, that she was raped byhim).
with Ate: reading met’Atesfor met’autes(‘with her’, i.e. with Electra). This explains the name of the Hill of Ate mentioned above; that she fell to earth at Ilion and the hill was named after her is confirmed by sc. Il. 19. 131. Ate is the personification of delusion; when Zeus was deceived by Hera over his plans for Heracles, p. 68, Zeus threw her down to earth (see 77. 19. 91 ff), where her actions are clear to see.
Dawn so loved Tithonos: see Theog. 984 ff. and HH to Aphrodite, 218 ff. On Emathion see p. 82 and note; Memnon will be an important ally of the Trojans, p. 154.
as we mentioned: see p. 86.
Aisacos ... was turned into a bird: the only other account, Ov. Met. 11. 749 ff., is quite different. Aisacos fell in love with the nymph Hesperia, who was bitten by a viper while he was pursuing her; and when he threw himself into the sea in grief at her death, Tethys transformed him into a bird (there a mergus, or diver, but the identification depends upon a purely Latin etymology).
Hecuba had a dream: cf. Pind. Paean8 (rather different), Eur. Troades920 ff, Cicero On Divination1.21. 42; not in Homer.
protecting: alexesas: Alexander (strictly, Alexandros) was thus the man (aner, andros)who protectedor defended.
he rediscovered his parents: Hyg. 91 gives the full story. Priam’s servant came to fetch a bull for games that were to be held in honour of Priam’s lost son (i.e. Paris himself). Paris went to the city and took part in the games, defeating his brothers; and when one of them, Deiphobos, drew his sword on him, he took refuge at the altar of Zeus Herceios. When Cassandra declared prophetically that he was her brother, Priam accepted him as his son.
Apollo . . . art of prophecy: cf. Aesch. Ag. 1202 ff.; there was another story that serpents licked the ears (cf. p. 46) of Cassandra and her brother Helenos when they were left overnight as children in the sanctuary of Thymbraean Apollo (sc. Il. 7. 44).
if he mere ever mounded: we should probably assume that she knows by her prophetic powers that he will be wounded if he abducts Helen (as explicitly stated in Parthen. 4); a pathetic tale that appealed to later sentiment (Hellanicos in the fifth century is the earliest recorded source, Parthen. 4).
learned from Sisyphos: see also p. 44 and note.
turned the ants into people: suggested by the etymological fancy that the ancestors of the Myrmidons (the people commanded by Aiacos’ grandson Achilles at Troy) were created from ants, myrmekes.
into a seaclass="underline" she conceived Phocos, the eponym of the Phocians, while she was in the form of a seal, phoke.
mhen Greece mas gripped . . . delivered from its barrenness: see further DS 4. 61. 1 ff, P. 2. 29. 6.
guards the keys of Hades: see also Plato Apol. 41a, where he judges the dead, and Isocrates Evagoras15, where he is said to sit beside Pluto and Kore, and enjoy the highest honours.
Telamon . . . killed his brother: there is a varied tradition. In the earliest recorded source, the Alcmaionis, an early epic, both strike him (sc. Eur. Andr. 687). Peleus is often said to deal the deathblow (e.g. P. 2. 29. 7, where they are said to have killed him to please their mother, who would have been angry that Phocos was born to another woman). In DS 4. 72. 6 the death is accidental.
because Heracles . . . Aias: for the full story see Pind. Isth. 6. 35 ff. The appearance of an eagle, the bird of Zeus, indicates that Zeus will respond positively to the prayer; the son is called Aias after the aietos(eagle). Ajax is the Latinized form of his name. For Telamon at Troy, see p. 86.
concealing his sword: a magic sword made by Hephaistos; Acastos expects that Peleus will be killed by the Centaurs who live on Mount Helicon while he is searching for it (cf. Hes. Cat. fr. 209). But he is saved by the good Centaur Cheiron.
Polydora . . . River Spercheios: she is the mother of Menesthios by this river in Il. 16. 173; but there she is the daughterof Peleus and wife of Boros, son of Perieres, as on p. 127. This report that Peleus married Polydora is unattested elsewhere, and may be an error.
was told by Prometheus: alluded to in [Aesch.] PV907 ff.; cf. Hyg. PA15.